Police are still searching for the man, who Diggs says took many of her belongings, including her phone, credit and debit cards, and her vehicle.

He was watching the man drive away when he saw the trunk of the vehicle pop open and Diggs roll out, Alsabah said.

"I'm just sitting there thinking, and I'm like, I might have a trunk latch".

Diggs says she jumped out as the auto left a petrol station.an escape captured by surveillance cameras.

Suddenly, it dawned on Diggs to use the light on her insulin pump to search for the trunk release latch she learned about watching YouTube videos.

Although they found Diggs's auto, she wants nothing to do with it because of the trauma she endured. Yosef Alsabah, the owner of Gas Land, said the suspect tried to withdraw cash several times before approaching the counter and asking for help with the ATM.

"I just got the bright idea to use my insulin pump light, which is not a bright light, but it was bright enough to see", Brittany Diggs, 25, told "Today" Monday morning about her great escape.

The suspect remains unknown and is still at large. At one point, the visibly shaken woman grabbed a shotgun Alsabah kept in the store, fearful the man would come back. The suspect remains at large, but Birmingham Police Chief A.C. Roper told AL.com he's confident he will be found and brought to justice. "It was just a lot because I'm not from here and I don't have a support system down here besides my roommate".

The store owner took the gun from her and assured her the man was not coming back. A friend established a GoFundMe page to help her with the expenses of moving.

The page says: "This stranger took everything from her and made her get in the trunk of her own auto".

At the time of publication, the campaign had raised $5,120 (£4,124) of the $7,000 target.